A Kunoichi's Journey
by rotXinXpieces
Summary: Naruto's world is altered with the arrival of new friends and enemies, whether it changes for the worst or best. Battles fought, friends made/lost, wars started. Welcome to Masashi Kishimoto's world of Naruto! Rated safely and reviews are beckoned to :D


**Hello and welcome to my Naruto fan fiction, **_**A Kunoichi's Journey**_**!**

**Disclaimers: I sadly do not own Naruto, the all powerful and brilliant Masashi Kishimoto does! I also do not own the following characters:**

**Saki Osamu**

**Saki Kishi**

**Akiyama Eiji**

**Kuromura Kotori**

**And more to come…**

**I DO own:**

**The entire Tsukuyomi Clan**

**Naoya**

**Kubakiyo Hitomu**

**Kiyomizu Kaito**

**This fan fiction~**

**Warnings: May contain adult themes, including violence and naughty language.**

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**Chapter One: The Chuunin Selection Exams! Arrival in Konohagakure!**

_KUR-SPLAT_

Blood splattered to the forest floor in front of me, like someone had dumped a bucket of red paint. I felt warm droplets hit my face, my eyes widening. My heart was pounding in my ears and I could hear the roar of my adrenaline as my hands shook.

"It looks like you were too late, little girl… Your teammate's dead." A man's cold, metallic voice rasped in my ear. Chills shot up my spine, making my head jerk up as I watched a crumpled corpse fall with a sickening wet splash accompanied with a crack.

Naoya was dead. Staring straight up through blank orange eyes, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth and down his cheeks, staining his medium-length aqua green hair that was mussed up now. His navy vest had shreds and a gaping hole that shot right through his gut, bits of flesh hanging off, matching the red flame patterns on his vest. His stirrups and shoes were gone, his black shorts missing part of the left leg.

I clasped my hands over my mouth, feeling nauseous churn upwards toward my throat as I shook. Naoya was dead? That's impossible! And Hitomu! I scrambled to my feet at the sound of a kunai being unsheathed from its holster. I almost tripped over Naoya's bloody corpse, my heart throbbing as I started to run.

I overestimated them! Who…? Who did I overestimate? What the hell-

_EEEK EEEK EEEK_

I shot up in bed, almost screaming, but instead choking and gasping as I felt myself coated in cold sweat. My chest was sore and tight, my body shaky. I blinked rapidly and looked around.

That's right, I was in a hotel. A hotel in Konohagakure. My teammates were alive and safe in their shared room while sensei was probably up and about, trying to get us up by ramming that alarm clock at our doors. I sucked in a huge breath of air, held it, then slowly let it out, swinging my legs around and staring out the window at the village laid out before me.

I felt myself relax a little, shoulders slumping in my over-sized t-shirt pajamas. I sighed and rose to my feet, turning and heading to the shower when I heard that annoying EEEK from an alarm clock hit my door again. I twitched.

"I'm up, sensei, I'm up!" I shouted to him, hearing a grunt. I rolled my eyes, smirking. He was never a morning person. Hell, I wondered if he was even a person sometimes the way he acted. I walked into the bathroom and stared in the mirror, pushing out my lower lip in an annoyed pout.

My inky black hair, which had grown to about my shoulder blades, was sticking up worse than usual. I poked at my cheek, seeing a smear of what might have been blood, which made my heart jump into my throat, but then as I scratched at it, I realized it was red paint from my nail polish. I snorted, then glanced up to see that I had a few circles under my lavender eyes. I turned away and jumped in the shower after I heard something hit my door again.

Impatient.

However, I couldn't bring myself to smile or smirk as usual. I was getting uncomfortable with those nightmares. The first night was the worst because I was so shocked by it. Why was I having nightmares about being attacked by some weird invisible guys and my teammate, Naoya, dying while Hitomu was totally gone? And the setting was totally unfamiliar.

I clenched my fists in my hair, the water splashing around my feet and getting sucked down the drain before I bent over and turned the water off. I stepped out, snatching up a towel and studying my reflection in the mirror, eyes narrowed.

Unfamiliar setting, death of a comrade, disappearance of another, my cowardliness taking over, and invisible men? Definitely weird.

"Ruriko! Get your ass up!" Hitomu's voice rang from out in the hallway and I twitched, with embarrassment and annoyance. We weren't the only people here, the dunderhead! Hitomu was the most conceited person I had ever met in my entire life, and that was saying something since my older brother, Hioshi, was pretty damn selfish too. Hitomu took it upon himself to become our so-called leader. Naoya didn't say anything, to Hitomu anyway. He later told me he was going to punch the guy.

And I'd join him.

I slammed my towel down and pulled my hair into a side ponytail, brushing my hair only a bit to the side of my face. I tugged my deep violet halter top on, adjusting it just right so the little triangle hole didn't show too much of my chest, clasping the collar bit of it around my neck. I snapped my black sleeves on at my biceps, letting the material bunch up near my knuckles, clasping a metal band around my wrists. I pulled on my dark gray pants and hooked a bit of fishnet around the left side of my waist, so it looked kind of like a half-skirt.

I ran over and plopped on the bed, jerking on my black ninja sandals and putting my headband around my waist tightly. I stood up and whirled to the door, throwing it open and stepping out to find Naoya just coming out of his room across the hall.

He was smoothing down his silky aqua green hair, his orange eyes lazy with sleep. I paused a bit uneasily, studying him. No blood, no gaping hole in his stomach, not cuts, nothing. He looked as ready as ever to start a new day.

"You look like you just saw a ghost. What's wrong?" Naoya asked, snapping me from my thoughts so I jumped a little. I laughed, rubbing the back of my head, waving a hand at him.

"Nothing, nothing. I just… Well, it's just that I had another one of those nightmares." I admitted with a sigh, slumping a bit. Naoya looked concerned, which surprised me. Not that Naoya was inconsiderate. He just had trouble showing people how he was feeling, what he was thinking, through facial expressions. However, you could definitely tell he was concerned by the way he narrowed his eyes, his brow furrowing and his lips turning down in a frown.

"You know, there's probably a reason you're having these dreams. I read somewhere that death in a dream could mean that you're going to do something to change, abandoning a problem that's in the present-"

"Naoya, you're not a problem, though." I interrupted, sounding a bit whiny, but I couldn't help it. He had the tendency to be a bit negative, and unfortunately, whenever he decided to stop being the smart silent type and spoke, he would just give one long speech on what was going through his head and I just couldn't deal with that at ten in the morning.

"Hm." Was all he said now, but I could tell the gears in his head were still whirling. I sighed and we turned, heading down the hallway toward the exit. As I told Naoya, he wasn't my problem. Naoya was probably the first friend I had ever made, and my best one at that.

We'd been hanging out since we were in the academy and we did everything together, even saved each other when the situation was tight. Unlike Hitomu, who wasn't exactly our friend in the academy, more like that bully kid that had no one else to hang out with, so he stuck to us since we were the only ones that didn't punch him or tell the teacher on him…

And, I'm not saying I never punched him, because I did. It was Naoya who didn't want to punch him. In fact, whatever Hitomu said was law to Naoya. It bothered me because Naoya would mention from time to time how much Hitomu annoys him and he wants to hit him, but he never would. Naoya was just too nice sometimes.

But that's all right. I always hit Hitomu in Naoya's stead too.

Speak of the devil and he was at the door, waiting for us with narrowed cat-green eyes, his midnight blue mane of smooth, silky hair seeming a bit more messy than usual. He was all dressed in a dark gray, white-fur hooded vest with black/pale blue arm warmers on his folded arms, a fishnet shirt and a bit of his feline tattoo visible under his vest. A pair of black pants to his ankles with matching ninja shoes and his headband tied around his left bicep, he was posed in one of those smug 'kekeke' positions with his nose in the air and a smirk on his face.

"About freaking time. What were you two doing?"

_THWACK!_

I shook my hand out, huffing as Hitomu grasped his nose, groaning. Naoya just stared as blankly as possibly, but the faint twinkle in his eye meant he was mentally laughing. Hitomu growled, then threw his hands down, ignoring the red print on his face.

"You're not supposed to hit the leader, Ruriko! Would you hit sensei?"

"Depends. If his name was Kubakiyo Hitomu, then yes."

"Ugh, don't screw around, not now. We're gonna go train and I found the perfect spot after talking to some people around here. It's their training fields and they're huge, big enough for you two against me." Hitomu explained, turning away and beginning to lead us out. Naoya and I shared looks before we shrugged, following the moron.

"Why would Naoya and I go against you? Two on one isn't fair, is it?" I asked as we walked and Hitomu laughed as he shoved his hands into his pockets, glancing over his shoulder at me cockily.

"Tch, it is if you both suck." He replied innocently, then looked back ahead. I clenched my fists, gritting my teeth. I was going to kill this cocky shinobi! Shinobi? No, this cocky little boy! He was such a brat, I swear. Hitomu always bragged about how he was going to become the greatest ninja in history, so great, that hidden village would beg him to come help them.

And other bullshit that would never happen. Not that I'm totally hating on Hitomu because he wasn't that bad. He had moments where he would try and help Naoya and myself. Naoya and I also took to following him some days out of pure boredom and find him going to the academy where he would tell stories and teach the kids about being a ninja, including his cousin, Arata.

That little booger was adorable with his chocolate hair all messy and short, big round blue eyes that he would use to gaze at Hitomu with pure admiration.

"By the way, whoever loses has to pay for lunch," Hitomu stated, walking confidently with his eyes closed, keeping his head up, "So I hope you two have enough money because I could go for some pickled pomegranates."

"Eugh!" I spat in disgust. Hitomu laughed. I wanted to run up behind him and tackle him to the ground, but Naoya put a hand on my arm and pointed to a nearby shop. I looked at him with a wicked smirk at his idea and nodded. We stopped walking, Hitomu walking up ahead without even realizing that his two so-called drudges were no longer following behind him obediently. Naoya and I turned instead and walked to a small ramen shop, plopping down on the stools and ordering our breakfast. I slurped my noodles up hungrily, stuffing the slices of pork down my throat. My stomach had probably been growling the entire time. Probably why Naoya pointed it out.

It made me blush with embarrassment. I tipped my head back and poured the hot juice down my throat, sighing contentedly before setting it down. Another bowl hit the counter beside me and I almost jumped, twitching as a brunette boy plopped in the seat beside me, huffing a little like he was upset about something. His dark brown hair was cut to his shoulders flatly with bangs over his forehead, black eyes narrowed in annoyance. He wore a dark green jacket with sleeves rolled to his elbows. A zipper ran down the right side of his chest with light green borders, the collar of his jacket upturned, just under his chin with shorts to his knees and blue sandals. His Konohagakure headband was tied to his right arm.

"You could sit down a little gentler." I muttered to the boy, who stiffened then snapped his head to look at me with a snort.

"No way! You're not in charge of me… Uh…"

"Tsukuyomi Ruriko." I filled in flatly, cocking a brow at him, though, a little mini-me was fuming inside. What a snot! This guy was almost as egotistical and annoying as Hitomu, but then again, I had this strange sensation that this guy wasn't completely terrible.

"Name's Saki Osamu! I'm a Konohagakure Genin, soon-to-be Chuunin!" He declared, folding his arms over his chest before he reached out and swiped up his bowl of ramen, digging his chopsticks into the juicy mass of noodles. It made my mouth water and I flicked my tongue over my lips, resting my chin on my elbow.

"Soon-to-be Chuunin? You're in the exams?" I asked, quirking a brow. Osamu nodded confidently, slurping up a thick noodle so it smacked him in the face. I clapped a hand over my mouth to resist an obnoxious laugh as Osamu twitched, his cheeks burning up as he scowled and wiped his face on his sleeve.

"These exams are going to be a lot easier than I thought if we're up against that." I heard Naoya mutter at my side. Osamu's eyes narrowed almost comically and he slammed his bowl down, leaning over the counter to point a finger at my teammate.

"Oi, I dare you to say that again!" He challenged. Naoya glanced at him out the corner of his eye, only raising his eyebrow slightly, but other than that keeping a pretty straight face. Though, if you really knew him, he'd probably be smirking on the inside.

"I'm not a parrot. Sit down or you'll cause a fuss and get us noticed by someone we ditched earlier and I really rather not put up with another obnoxious Genin." He answered dryly, turning his head the other way as he took a sip of his drink. I smirked and looked at Osamu, who scowled, then seemed to flash his teeth in a daring grin.

"All right, tough guy, why don't you show me what you got then if you're so damn smug about it!" He challenged. I groaned, waving my hand between them.

"Oh, please. As much as I'd love to see you two go at it just to see who's stronger, let's save it for the exams when it's a rule free. Not to mention, you guys don't want to give away your strength now, do you?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest. Osamu stopped for a second to mull the thought over, then 'tsked' before plopping back on his stool.

Naoya tilted his head to the side, but said nothing, which meant he mostly agreed and then went back to slowly finishing his ramen. I smiled, pleased before I glanced at Osamu, who was sliding his bowl across the counter.

"So, where are your other teammates?" I asked curiously. Osamu licked his lips, glancing up and down the streets, then back at me.

"Probably with our sensei, Kotori. They wanted me to train, but there's no way without breakfast. I need to be pumped for this." He responded. I smirked, resting my chin on my knuckles to watch him fiddle with chopsticks.

"I second that. Our other teammate, Hitomu, wanted us to train without breakfast, but we sort of-"

"Ditched me?" A voice sang ever so sweetly, but it was so sugar coated that you could sense the annoyance in it. I twitched, dropping my hand to the counter and clenching it into a fist. Naoya blinked and turned halfway in his stool to find Hitomu standing beside us with his arms folded, a scowl on his face.

"See if I care if you two fail the exams," Hitomu started to rant, making me groan and cover my ears in an attempt to block him out while Naoya sighed, resting his head on his arms, "I'll end up becoming Chuunin and then I'll officially be the boss of you two when you're both still Genin! And what the heck are you doing conversing with the competition? Do you _want_ to give away your strengths and weaknesses?"

"Ugh," Osamu snorted, swiveling to face Hitomu, who spared him a glance of irritation, "Who the hell do you think you are? You're a Genin like the rest of us. What makes you so special?"

"That's none of your business." Hitomu retorted, turning his head the other way. I watched Osamu clench a fist, probably tempted to clobber the fool, much like myself because I was already on my feet. And this was probably what Hitomu meant by not showing your weakness, but I couldn't help it. I could feel the burning heat of annoyance spreading through me as my hand shot out, grabbing the front of Hitomu's vest, jerking him forward a little so I was glaring up at him.

"Put a sock in it, General Meathead! I swear, if you keep bossing us around, I'm going to beat you to a bloody pulp! Let's see how powerful a ninja you are when you're missing all your limbs!" I barked at him, making him twitch and narrow his eyes. Naoya sweat dropped and Osamu smirked.

"Ruriko, don't waste your time on him," Naoya advised while I continued to obnoxiously shout at Hitomu, who was trying to tug my grip on him, "He'll probably be that annoying for the rest of his life and all you can do is pity him for it or hope the exams change him somehow. Let's just go train already." I paused for a second, glaring at Hitomu, who didn't mind glaring back. I shoved him, letting go and whipping around to fold my arms over my chest.

"Tsk!" Hitomu turned the other way as well, his hands on his hips. Naoya stood up, placing money down on the counter and glancing at Osamu, who had his head cocked curiously now.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, even if you're a cocky brat. Ruriko seems to like you, the way she's been watching you." He said. I twitched and felt a heat creeping up to my cheeks as I whipped around to glare at Naoya.

"Hey! Don't go around deciding my thoughts! Come on, you!" I grabbed Naoya's arm and tugged him after me, leaving Osamu to snicker before he hopped off his stool to leave as well. Hitomu walked at my side, muttering.

"You're going to get yourself killed if you keep trying to make friends with enemy nations."

"What are you talking about? He's not my enemy. He's competition and he's not that bad, in fact, he tends to remind me of you." I mumbled, averting my eyes as Hitomu twitched, flailing his arms a little as he ran in front of me, stopping me so I put my hands on my hips. Naoya just looked away, sighing as he probably sensed another pointless argument.

"Hold on a second! No way! That shrimpy little girl is nothing like me!"

"Yea, he kind of is, actually. And you're basically announcing it by shouting like that. Now look, as much as I want to argue, let's go to the training grounds so I can kick your ass." I challenged. Hitomu glared, looking more serious now as he clenched his fists.

"Is that what you want? Fine. Let's make this more interesting."

"Let's not." Naoya put in, but he was ultimately ignored, which is why he smacked his forehead. I smirked, folding my arms over my chest.

"Oh yea, how's that?" I asked. Hitomu looked amused now, the corner of his mouth lifting as he looked down at me. He always had to put on a smug look when he was making challenges, but that didn't scare anyone. It mostly encouraged them to want to punch him in the face.

"Battle to whoever gets pinned first. If I pin you, you cannot talk to the competition like they're your friends." He stated. I twitched and could feel the blood in me boil. I was going to kill him.

"And if I win?" I demanded. Hitomu laughed.

"Yea, right. It's a waste of time to come up with something for you."

"Ugh! That's it, we'll decide it after because standing here listening to you is pissing me off!" I snarled, then shot off. I could Hitomu bark a curse and shoot after me. I'm sure that Naoya was right behind him as well as we shot from rooftop to rooftop. My fingertips tingled with the urge to hit something.

It'd been way too long since Hitomu and I had an official fight. Naoya was probably annoyed with it, but at the same time, I knew he didn't give a rat's ass if I kicked Hitomu's ass. I knew I was going to. Hitomu may be strong, without a doubt, and his Kekkei Genkai was pretty dangerous for both myself and him. Even so, Hitomu had a good pack of weaknesses that I knew about.

I had an advantage over him for sure. We landed in a grassy field, a thin blue river coursing through it and a platform that looked like it had a KIA stone sitting on it, the glossy black surface glittering with names. It made me frown for a second, but Hitomu's voice tore me back.

"Let's do this! Naoya, you're the ref! And don't be fucking biased or I'll pound you into the ground next." He added angrily as Naoya landed after us, his clothes fluttering a little before he stood up straight. He just nodded calmly, but his eyes were glowing a little as he turned to look right at me.

I could just hear his telepathic message of _kick his ass, Ruriko_. I was almost too eager to comply, turning to face Hitomu with clenched fists. Hitomu glared at me, watching closely before he spread his feet across the ground getting into position. I smirked and crouched, watching Naoya's arm lift, lift…

There!

His arm swung down and Hitomu moved first, racing at me as his hand snaked into his kunai holster, ripping one out as he slashed at me. I ducked back and off to the side before flinging my foot up and kicking the kunai free. I caught it in the air and flung it at him, but he whirled around, dodging it in time while making hand signs.

A hot blast of wind began to swirl around me and I winced as the wind lashed out, cutting at my arms and legs. I gritted my teeth as Hitomu smirked at me from outside the column, but he wasn't smirking for long before I crouched down, then shot up as fast as I could. I did a spin and flipped outside the column of wind

I sailed downwards, making hand signs and flinging my hand outwards toward Hitomu, who jerked his head up and muttered a curse as a bolt of electricity shot outwards, spreading into hundreds of webs of lightening. Hitomu shot away, leaping backwards a few steps before I hit the ground, sending up rubble. Hitomu came at me again, darting quickly before he aimed to punch me in the face, but I ducked low and swung my foot up into his chest.

He hissed past clenched teeth, but to my shock, he vanished in a puff of dust. My eyes flashed and I whirled around to find Hitomu running at me, a kunai in hand as he flung it at me. I ducked backwards onto my hands before doing a flip and getting to my feet, swinging my foot around and kicking Hitomu in the chest. He skidded back across the dirt and I smirked, lunging at him.

I aimed a punch at his face, but he caught my fist and twisted me around. I yelped, wincing as I heard my arm creak a little, but not quite break. He twisted me around, my arm behind my back. He went to shove me, but I swung my head back.

This was gonna hurt.

My head hit his face and he howled, letting go of me and grasping his nose. I whirled around to punch him in the side of the head, but he ducked and grabbed me around the waist, pushing up off the ground. I gasped.

"You wouldn't dare!" I managed, glancing back to see him with a blood nose. He just grinned at me and swung a hand into the air, making hand signs with one hand. Damn it!

I hated this technique and he wasn't even allowed to use it on his teammates. He had guts trying to do it. I tensed up as he tightened his grip around my waist, instead of my throat because he knew better than to put his hand near my mouth.

"Wind Release: Godly Wind from the Mountains!" He swung me downwards at the ground, swinging his foot down and releasing another blast of wind, only this one was stronger and tearing around in a vortex, sending me shooting toward the ground. I gritted my teeth as the ground kept coming closer and closer.

Shit! Hitomu was freaking crazy! This was supposed to be whoever was pinned, not killed!

I closed my eyes and brought my arms up the best I could, hiding my face as I shot at the ground and I expected to hit it, but something grabbed me and I was torn from the mass of wind. A familiar pair of arms got me and I heard Hitomu yell out a curse, followed by a name.

"Naoya, you fucking cheater!" He all, but screamed. Naoya skidded to the ground, holding me. I blinked and squirmed out of his arms. I glared at him.

"Naoya." I stated, my tone rising with warning. Naoya stared at me lazily.

"It was instinct." He answered. I scowled, then whirled around in time for Hitomu to come racing at me. My eyes widening, flashing as I ducked his fist, swirling around and digging my nails into his side, ripping. Blood burst free from his wound, making him stumble and gasp. He clasped a hand over his side before spinning to face me. He grabbed my arm and swung me around, knocking me off my feet and skidding through the dirt on my back.

I slammed into a tree, which groaned and creaked as my back cracked a little. I managed to pull myself up as Hitomu came at me again, his fist reeled back for a punch. However, his fist just barely missed me as I sidestepped, his knuckles barreling into the tree trunk, causing the tree to finally collapse to the side. I took my chance while Hitomu watched in awe at his own raw strength.

I lunged in and bit down on his forearm, my teeth sinking past his skin. I heard the wet, hard pop as my teeth went in, blood spurting past the wounds and into my mouth. Hitomu howled and tried to jerk his arm away, but he should know better.

Cannibalism was in my blood. It was the strongest technique I had.

I bit down harder, pushing my teeth past his layers of flesh toward the bone. Any harder, and his arm would come off and be mine. I was still hungry, that ramen wasn't enough to fill me. I smirked, glancing at Hitomu as his face twisted up in agony. I could faintly see tears pricking the corner of his eyes.

That's what shocked me for a moment, my eyes widening before I felt a strong grip go around my throat. I choked and let go. I watched as another arm went around Hitomu's neck, jerking him backwards. We were both thrown to the ground roughly, knocking up dust.

"All right, that's enough." Kaito-sensei's normally calm voice stated harshly. I blinked and swung myself up into a sitting position. Kaito's loose light turquoise hair ruffled in the wind, his reddish-brown eyes narrowed dangerously. His sand Jounin uniform fluttered along with the sash around his waist, his partially fingerless gloved hands clenched.

"Ah, damn it." I muttered, slowly getting to my feet. I watched as a ways away, Hitomu struggled to his feet as well, shaking as he spat on the ground, his bloody arm falling limply to his side. We glared at each other, but Kaito-sensei stood between us, a very annoyed look on his face.

"All right," Kaito began, making me stiffen a little, "So this is how you train, hm? You use your strongest techniques and ruin the landscape. Nice work, only there's two problems with this… A) You guys are teammates. And B) This is _not_ your village! What the hell is the matter with you two, idiots, huh? I didn't sign you two up for this so you could learn to kill each other!" I flinched as Kaito's voice rose to a shouting octave. I clenched my hands together behind me, glaring at the ground.

It's not like I started it anyway. I mean, come on. You heard it too. Hitomu was the one who challenged me by thinking he was the boss. The thought made my teeth grit together and I fumed some more, jerking my head up and clenching my fists.

"But sensei, it's not my fault! Hitomu's the one who challenged me! He thinks he's the boss of us and he's not! He's nothing, but a conceited ass!" I barked. Hitomu twitched and glared at me, flipping me a finger.

"Screw you! You were talking with the enemies! You're going to get yourself killed, you stupid idiot!" He snapped back. I cringed with anger, ready to lunge at him again and Hitomu doing the same, but Kaito swung both his arms up to hit us, stopping us. We coughed and Kaito folded his arms again.

"Ruriko," Kaito stated dryly, "Don't go accusing people like that. It's childish. You're a proud female from the Tsukuyomi Clan. Don't disgrace them by taking on a negative attitude. You're normally not like this." I frowned, but said nothing as I forced myself to loosen up a little bit. Kaito glanced at Hitomu, who was still glaring at me.

"Hitomu," He started in a deathly calm voice that immediately snapped Hitomu back to reality so that he was staring at Kaito with wide eyes, "They are competition, not enemies. Making allies is the best way to get around in the ninja world, not declaring enemies. I know you're worried about Ruriko, but she's a tough girl and she can handle herself." I blinked and looked at Hitomu. I watched as his cheeks colored deep pink, his fists clenching.

"I-I'm not worried about her at all!" He protested. Kaito raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so? Then why would you throw such a fit over her talking to the competition?" He asked curiously. I could see the corner of his mouth twitching in an attempt not to smile at how he had trapped Hitomu. He had a point too and I was just as curious, watching as Hitomu got stiff, his face turning red now.

"B-Because! She- I never…! I don't…! Argh, never mind! I'm going back to the hotel!" Hitomu fumed and he shot off faster than my eyes could follow him. Kaito watched him go, though, then looked at me as I smirked before it fell away at Kaito's serious look.

"Don't worry him, Ruriko. It's fine that you make friends and hopefully he comes to realize that, but sometimes you have to be cautious with who you make friends with." He advised. I nodded solemnly, then looked up as Naoya walked over to stand by me, his eyes closed and I could swear there was a look of utter annoyance on his face. Kaito looked at him, and his attitude changed, a light smile coming across his lips.

"Naoya. I think I can always count on you to do something about those two. I'm glad you jumped in and caught her when you did, otherwise, she'd probably be seriously injured." He explained. I huffed, folding my arms over my chest while Naoya looked at Kaito-sensei and nodded.

"All right, now that you guys are done being children," Kaito drawled, turning away from us, making me twitch with annoyance and Naoya yawn, "Why don't you guys go do something fun, hm? The exams are coming up in three days, so I highly suggest you guys relax a little bit. Do some sight seeing, make friends, spend your money, pick up dates."

"Sensei." I deadpanned. Kaito smirked, glancing over his shoulder.

"What? From what I've seen, there's plenty of people around here to look at. I've got my fair share of dates." He patted his bulging vest pocket, a few slips of papers with numbers written on them sticking out. I rolled my eyes in disgust and Naoya seemed to smile very faintly.

After a bit more of a lecture about getting along, Kaito-sensei let us go back into town with him in hopes of finding entertainment. Naoya and I walked side by side behind Kaito-sensei as he gave us a list of nice Jounin women he'd met. He was in mid-sentence when he stopped, both speaking and walking so we smacked into him.

"Ow! Sensei, what gives!" I demanded angrily, clenching a fist, which Naoya put a hand on to lower. I watched Kaito's eyes drift to the side toward a small shop that seemed to sell food. Sitting at a table with another female sensei with dark-haired and red eyes was a salmon-haired Jounin with beautiful light green eyes.

"She's kind of pretty." I admitted, looking at Naoya, who followed my gaze before he looked back at me with a cocked brow of curiosity. I scowled and punched his arm playfully. Kaito smirked, thought, I could tell he was mostly ignoring us. He had that 'ahaaaa, new prey' look in his eye. If there was one thing you had to know about our sensei, it was that he was woman-crazy.

He thought he was the god of women or something because he was always flirting with them wherever we went! We've almost gotten killed on at least two different occasions that involved his flirtatious antics. And, I'm not just saying this because he's my sensei, but just because Kaito had some pretty good looks, didn't mean he was the most attractive man in the world.

Of course, you never told him that unless you had a death wish.

Kaito-sensei moved first. Naoya and I just shared looks and followed close behind as Kaito approached the shop. He led us to a table that was right near the Jounin, sitting down. He smirked at Naoya and I, who sat across from him, before winking and standing up to get some food.

"You know, I'm waiting for the day that women slap him for his horrible attempts to flirt." I muttered, resting my chin on my palms. Naoya glanced at me, raising an eyebrow before looking back across the shop. We sat there in awkward silence, mostly because Naoya wasn't going to start a conversation unless I directed a question at him, which I seriously didn't feel like doing.

After a while, Kaito-sensei came back, setting down a few rolls of sushi and some unagi, that was burning my nose because it smelled so damn good. I licked my lips, glanced at sensei, who just nodded permission to me. I immediately started eating, stuffing roll after roll of crab-meat sushi into my mouth. Naoya watched for a second, then started picking up a couple rolls, nibbling the seaweed and rice off them.

"Sensei, how exactly are you going to pick them up?" I asked curiously, watching as Kaito-sensei kept glancing sideways at the ladies, who were chuckling and poking fun at someone they knew. Kaito looked at me.

"If there's one thing I know about ladies like that, it's that they love their sake. So, as soon as they run out, you go over there and offer them some more. It'll work like a charm."

"Yea?" I asked and Kaito nodded, licking soy sauce off his fingertips. I looked at Naoya, who raised an eyebrow with suspicion at Kaito's tip. I just rolled my eyes and looked up in time to see Kaito rising to his feet. I guess the Jounin ran out of sake, I thought as I watched him move over there.

"I wonder if sensei realizes that I don't particularly like drinking sangaria." Naoya murmured, making me glance at him. I sweat dropped, watching him give the tea-based soft-drink a disgusted look. I sighed.

"If you want, I'll go up there and see if they have milk."

"I'm not thirsty."

"Then why did you bring it up?"

"Because I wanted to talk to you about Hitomu." Naoya deadpanned. I blinked, then put a fist on my hip as I pointed my chopsticks at him.

"Hey, that has nothing to do with Hitomu, Naoya."

"That's true."

"Ugh, never mind. Going on." I waved at him to continue. Naoya waited a second, peeling seaweed off with the rice, dropping the bits of crab on my plate for me to pick at and eat. He looked across the shop toward the bustling street.

"I've got a little respect for Hitomu. I've always known that he worried about you. Hitomu thinks of us as siblings, I know he does, even if he doesn't want to admit it. You know what his parents went through a while ago, don't you?" He asked me. I blinked and looked at him with a clueless expression. Come to think of it, I hardly knew anything about Hitomu's past. Just from the time we met in the academy, even then, we never worried about our personal lives, just our academy and ninja lives.

"Huh?" I asked. Naoya averted his eyes for a moment and ate another sushi roll. By that, I mean he just ate the seaweed and rice. He did nibble on the bit of crab, but set it on his plate after a while before he glanced at me.

"They had a stillborn, Hitomu's mother. Hitomu wanted a sibling, so his parents tried for one, but it was stillborn. As in, it was born dead. His mother was so distraught she tried to commit family suicide by setting their house on fire, but her husband stopped her. I don't think Hitomu got why his mother did that, either that or he just didn't want to believe it," Naoya shrugged, picking up another roll, "Either way, Hitomu's probably thought of us as siblings, which is why he didn't stop hanging out with us. That's why I do what he tells me and I try not to worry him… Anyway, that came into my head when sensei was telling you that Hitomu was worried about you, cuz he is. But you know him. Too prideful to say anything like that."

I looked away at my food, not touching it. I felt a little guilty now for getting on Hitomu's case about it. It was a scary thought to think that your own mother would try and kill your family. Hitomu was probably painfully lonely when he wasn't around us. I don't think I'd ever know what that meant. I had three older brothers and an older sister, and even though we didn't always get along, we still stuck together.

It made me smile a little at the same time, though. Hitomu had moments where he wasn't such a jerk, like when sensei took us to our favorite shop back in Sunagakure after a successful mission. Hitomu was always making scenes and entertaining us.

"You're right," I said at last as I thought it over, "I feel kind of bad now… But I guess I won't nag at Hitomu as much as I always do. I just wish he'd quit treating us like we're lower than him."

"That's just because he's a year older than us."

"Ugh, so he thinks of us as younger siblings? Jeez, as if four older siblings wasn't enough for me, now I have five?" I grumbled with a pout. I caught Naoya smiling before he looked the other way.

"Looks like sensei's getting along with those Jounin." He stated, pointing. I blinked and looked over. Sure enough, Kaito-sensei seemed to be settling in quite well. He was leaning on their table with a wicked smirk, receiving one from the salmon-haired Jounin, who winked a pretty green eye at him. Naoya and I shared looks, then I jumped as a hand slammed down on our table and I jerked my head up, angrily and ready to shout at whoever it was, but stopped when I saw Osamu, looking at us in surprise.

Beside him was a boy and a girl, most likely his teammates. The girl looked a bit like him, probably his sister, with dark brown eyes and matching hair, cut rather short and spiked in a rebellious fashion. She wore a dark green, sleeveless coat with a zipper down the middle, matching pants that flared around her ankles and black sandals while her headband glinted on her forehead.

The other boy wore a pair of glasses over blue eyes, his slate gray hair falling on either side of his face and a unusually messy. He wore a white tank top accompanied with bandages along his arms, a dark red jacket with short sleeves over top with a zipper to about mid-way and knee-length black shorts with red stripes down the sides, matching his sandals.

"Hey, it's you two again! What happened to your… Jerky ass teammate?" Osamu asked, glancing around and sliding into the seat across from us to peek over the edge. I smirked, resting my elbows on the table.

"He ditched us because he got in trouble. What about your teammates?" I asked, glancing toward them curiously as I drummed my fingers on the table. Osamu blinked, then whipped around, gesturing a hand out as he reached out with the other to pick up some of our food.

"That's my sister, Kishi, and our buddy, Eiji. Oh, and that lady over there, the one who looks like a salmon smacked her, that's our sensei, Kuromura Kotori." He added, nibbling on the food in his hand. Naoya gave him a deadpan stare, as if to mentally ask who the hell he thought he was eating our food. I blinked, recognizing his sensei's last name, however, instead of the stolen food, surprisingly.

I could have sworn I heard my parents mention the name Kuromura before, and my brothers too. Meaning Kazuya and Hioshi when they took the exams here when they were younger. I made a mental note to ask my parents about it too because I knew that name was important. I snapped back when Osamu snorted.

"Eugh, and she's flirting with another freak. He has a Sunagakure headband. You know him?" Osamu asked, forcing Kishi and Eiji to sit in the seat with him. Naoya and I shared looks for a moment, telepathically debating before looking at them and shaking our heads. It happened a lot, denying that Kaito was our sensei. Apparently Osamu and his teammates weren't all that ashamed of their sensei. It probably had something to do with her name.

This was going to irritate me all day.

"So, you're all in the exams?" I asked. Kishi gave a nod, but the Eiji kid said nothing, glancing out the corner of his eye at nothing in particular as if the setting made him uncomfortable. He almost reminded me of Naoya. Osamu smirked, leaning across the table so his face was in mine. Definitely a challenge, so I narrowed my eyes at him and folded my arms over my chest.

"Hell yea! Just you wait, Tsukuyomi! You're entire team doesn't stand a chance against mine, but don't worry, I'll let you apologize _after_ I become a Chuunin." Osamu replied with a wickedly cocky grin. My hand shot out, making him blink as I grabbed the front of his jacket, standing up. I smirked.

"Bring it on! I'll make you eat those words after I rip you into sashimi!" I dared, making Osamu huff, but he didn't look all that angry. More amused than anything, so I let go of his jacket and folded my arms over my chest, looking in the opposite direction while Osamu leaned back.

"We'll just see about that! Come on, guys. We've got training to do." Osamu stated, rising to his feet and stepping from the booth. Kishi blinked, glancing at him, then at me with what might've been suspicion. I don't know because the look was so quick and sharp. Naoya watched them go, a frown carving its way onto his face.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" He murmured. I blinked and looked at him, then laughed as I watched Osamu and his team try and drag their sensei out, who was huffing and demanding they go train while Kaito watched calmly, a faint smile on his lips.

"What're you talking about?"

"I just have a weird feeling in my gut, you know, like you just ate something bad."

"You probably did."

"… I hope so."

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**A/N: Thank you for reading! Yes, these characters are mine as my previous username here was RurikoTsukuyomi, but I moved due to my account being too cluttered with failed works, which kinda sucks, but yea! I'm back on this new account with a username that I use EVERYWHERE! If you want more info and updates, go to my homepage! Updated every week, if not every other day, haha. Well, again, thank you very much for reading and I'd appreciate reviews (:!**


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